Small business owners faced fines upwards of $15,000. In response to public outcry and community concerns on the hardships imposed on local businesses, on January 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed new legislation that would temporarily stop fines from violations issued to small businesses for failing to conform to their sign permits or those who did not have the proper permits at all. The Department usually gets 900 complaints a year, but that … <Read More>
Search Results for: Open Violations
Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement Brings Lawsuit Over Illegal Short-Term Rental Operation
The lawsuit claims that at least 130 apartments were converted into illegal short-term rentals. On January 14, 2019, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement announced that it filed a lawsuit against several defendants for converting apartments in 35 residential buildings into illegal short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb. The defendants include Metropolitan Property Group (MPG), five current or former MPG employees and 18 associated corporate entities. The lawsuit was filed on January 14, 2019, in … <Read More>
Landlord Fined $53,100 for Residential Tenants’ Illegal Transient Use
The Appellate Division affirmed fines for illegal conversion of residential units as hotel rooms. 360 West 43rd Street is a 28-story, 264 rent-stabilized unit building in Midtown, Manhattan. On June 5, 2015, the owner sent three tenants a letter advising them that their leases would be terminated and they would be evicted if they continued illegally renting out the apartments for hotel use.
City Planning Approves City-Initiated Special Garment Center District Rezoning
Zoning changes will bring many buildings into compliance and will lift manufacturing space preservation requirements. City officials step in to ensure garment manufacturing has a continuing place in the district. On September 26, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed rezoning of the Special Garment Center District by the Department of City Planning, in conjunction with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The Special Garment Center District encompasses … <Read More>
Needed: Large Venues for Large Protest/Rallies in New York City
Peaceful protests, protected by the First Amendment, are fundamental to our constitutional system and to democracy. Peaceful protest marches and rallies have been instrumental in bringing about significant change in racial, gender, LGBTQ and economic equality; reproductive rights; climate policy; capital punishment; housing; criminal justice, and voting rights. Yet in recent years appropriate venues have been unavailable for large peaceful protests, raising the question of whether City practices inappropriately limit the exercise of First Amendment … <Read More>
Pedicab Operator Fined $750
Unlicensed owner left pedicab in the “No Standing” area of Central Park. Shakhboz Muzafforov left his pedicab unattended in front of the Loeb Boat House at East 73rd Street in Central Park at 12:22 p.m. on May 16, 2017. A Parks officer served Muzafforov a summons for unlawfully leaving a pedicab in a prohibited location. Later that day at 2:05 p.m., a Parks officer asked Muzafforov for his license and upon review of the … <Read More>